Two Hudson County municipalities held vigils last night to show solidarity with the families of the Newtown, Conn., shooting victims.
“We are here tonight to embrace each other and become the change that we wish to see,” said Daniel Rodriguez, a Jersey City resident who coordinated last night’s vigil outside Jersey City City Hall.

Over 100 people attended the event in Jersey City, despite temperatures that dipped to the low 30s. While the cold temperatures may have frozen the feet and hands of many in the crowd, it couldn’t cool off their warm hearts, which helped provide unity for the Jersey City community.

“We as a community need to unite, stand together, and make our community stronger,” said Imam Umar Chaudhry of the Muslim Federation of New Jersey. “We have a chance to make a difference, band together, and ensure that our community stays safe.”

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy echoed that statement, adding that lawmakers in Washington could help prevent such tragedies.

“As recently as eight years ago, there were federal laws that prevented weapons like this from getting in the hands of civilians,” he said. “These laws were allowed to expire. A federal plague needs a federal solution. The time is now.”

Healy was referring to the ban on assault weapons.

Secaucus residents also gathered last night to mourn those lost in the school shooting two weeks ago. Secaucus residents held an interfaith community vigil at the Buchmuller Park Bandshell.

While the victims in Newtown have been buried, their memory lives on. Healy told the crowd in Jersey City the government and citizens across the nation can help do their part to remember the victims in the best way possible by strengthening gun laws.

“As one of the parents of a victim said, ‘If (the government) can do something to get weapons out of the hands of these people, then my child will not have died in vain,’ ” Healy told the crowd. “This is the government’s job, to provide for the safety of their communities.”